Ought Low Alcohol Intake to be Promoted for Health Reasons?

There is increasingly widespread acceptance that alcohol taken in moderation by the population aged 35 years or older reduces the risks of ischaemic heart disease and all-cause mortality. Ten causal criteria are used to evaluate the scientific evidence for a protective effect of low alcohol intake on ischaemic heart disease. Inferences for public policy are then assessed using the principles of beneficence, non-maleficence, justice and autonomy to support a framework of nine ethical considerations: intervention versus causation; effect modification by gender, smoking, biogenetic and other factors; inappropriate adoption of recommendations; competing hazards between atherosclerotic disease and cancer; opportunity cost; equity of access; the value system used to judge outcomes; the degree of social influence warranted; and consent and responsibility. We conclude that in the absence of more adequate scientific knowledge and informed community debate it is unethical to promote low alcohol intake as a preventive health measure.

Cancer risk-reduction behaviors of breast cancer survivors

Using secondary data analysis, the aim was to determine if postmenopausal women, who have survived breast cancer, have adopted healthy nutritional and physical activity behaviors recommended in the American Cancer Society guidelines as cancer risk-reduction strategies, and in guidelines for prevention of other chronic diseases or for improving general health. From their personal health history, women who have survived breast cancer would be likely candidates to adopt healthy behaviors recommended as cancer risk-reduction strategies or for prevention of other chronic diseases. A secondary aim was to determine the perceived general health and affective state of these women. These breast cancer survivors had a high perception of their general health, a positive affective state, and have adopted some healthy lifestyle behaviors, but they are not fully adhering to the ACS nutrition and physical activity guidelines or other health related guidelines for cancer risk reduction or prevention of other chronic diseases.